Carbon fiber products manufacturer 666 Road Racing has announced its plans to enter into the 2010 Isle of Man TT Zero event, making them the first announced team to enter the TT Zero event with a Mavizen electric sport bike. Mavizen, as many may remember, is owned by Azhar Hussain, founder of the TTXGP, which was recently ousted by the Isle of Man, which then created the TT Zero racing class for the Isle of Man TT. This announcement is a turn of events as it was previously believed Azhar would not let a Mavizen bike compete in rival series created by the FIM and Isle of Man.

Hussain has stated publicly he was unsure as to whether he would condone purchasers of Mavizens to race in other series, leaving the issue open. However back channel speculation in the electric racing circles seemed to suggest such an event would not occur. Considering that 666 manufacturers the carbon tray that holds the Mavizen electrical components to the KTM RC8 chassis, it’s surprising that a company so close to Mavizen and TTXGP would be the first to break rank, and look at other series besides TTXGP.

At the helm for 666 Racing is Keith Amor, who won took two podiums in the 2009 Isle of Man TT. Amor was previously without a ride for the 2010 TT, having recently split with the JMF/Millsport team. He’ll be on-board 666’s Mavizen electric motorcycle, which uses a similar setup to last year’s TTXGP winner Team Agni. The Mavizen bike that Amor will use has a KTM chassis that has been fitted by 666 to accomodate the electrical compenents. The team hopes to break the 100mph barrier on the Mountain Course, but considering last year’s Agni only topped the mid-80’s for average speed, it’s doubtful that 666 has a meaningful shot at achieving this feat.

2 weeks after TT Zero entries closed there has been a deafening silence from the organisers. However, before anyone starts cheering for Hussain I read somewhere that although he was claiming ’55 expressiosn of interest’ for his various c/ships, no-one had actually paid the registration fee! He claimed a similar number of interested parties for last year’s TTxGP and 14 bikes turned up…

Also, I can’t understand why people keep hailing TxGP a success unless they’re just repeating what was in Hussain’s post-TT press release. It was dreadful – a tiny entry with no real racing as even in just one lap the bikes were well spread out and most of them were dog slow.

Face it – it’s a concept no-one wants right now. It’s like going to your favourite Indian restaurant expecting a nice spicy Vindaloo and then being given a bowl of muesli…

I don’t agree that there’s no interest in the eBike scene. I will admit that there’s little interest from conventional race fans. If there weren’t three competing sanctioning bodies, and everyone was focused on the IoM again in 2010, there’d be a decent — and decently diverse — grid.

It’s a moot point anyway, because OEMs are showing interest (KTM’s entered the fray with the Freeride, Yamaha’s cited zero-emissions tech in its plans to recapitalize) and where the money goes, interest follows. What is most interesting to current players in the moto industry is precisely that the old fans aren’t interested — IE, this is a way to reach a new audience, and that’s something we desperately need.

mikey

Since I passed that earlier comment I’ve read on the web that the FIM’s first e-Power event has attracted 6 entries. Hussain’s TTxGP has attracted 10 entries so far but that’s spread across 3 championships – I suspect the bulk of those entries will be for the American series. The TT organisers (3 weeks after entries closed) have still to make any formal announcements but so far I’ve ony heard 9 names being mentioned.

I stand by my point Mark and I disagree about there being a decent TT grid if the organisation wasn’t so fractured. Subject to confirmation, so far there’s only about 25 teams GLOBALLY that have registered to race this year, and if you’re the Mark Gardiner I think you are (ex-TT rider?) you’ll know that a full TT grid is more than 3 times that number.

I’ve been going to the TT a long time (since 1964) and TTxGP was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. It was desperately dull and that’s something no TT should ever be.